QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.4ml

Earthquake near Arvin, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Arvin in the 24 hours to 8:01 am PST (16:01 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 14 km (9 mi) WSW, at 2:35 am PDT on 29 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Arvin

This page: a magnitude 1.4 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) northeast of Arvin, CA, at 11:59 pm PDT on 2 October 2026 (06:59 UTC), 4.8 km deep.

USGS: 22 km NE of Arvin, CA

37 km (23 mi) E of Bakersfield, CA · 147 km (91 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA

11:59 pm PDT, Oct 2, 2026 · · 4.8 km deep · released about 3.3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 9 kmTulare County 101 kmVentura County 117 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
11:59 pm PDT on 2 October 2026 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) northeast of Arvin, CA · earthquakes near Arvin
Magnitude
M 1.4 (ml)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 9 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Edison fault, 5 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 40 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Bear Valley Springs, Golden Hills, Stallion Springs, Tehachapi, Lamont, Weedpatch.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 290× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.4 about 3.3 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.2 on 2024-08-07 — about 620,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 16 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 24 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 15 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 15 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 13km ENE of Grapevine, CA · 41 km SSW of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 35.3257, -118.6282. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 9 km (6 mi) WNW earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 101 km (63 mi) N earthquakes near Tulare County
Ventura County, CA 117 km (73 mi) SSW earthquakes near Ventura County
Kings County, CA 136 km (84 mi) NW earthquakes near Kings County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

37 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.7 16 km SW of Lamont, CA
  2. 1.3 16 km NNW of Mojave, CA
  3. 0.8 5 km ESE of Wofford Heights, CA
  4. 0.9 11 km W of Mojave, CA
  5. 1.0 25 km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  6. 1.0 13 km W of Mojave, CA
  7. 0.9 13 km SE of Tehachapi, CA
  8. 1.3 19 km SSE of Bodfish, CA
  9. 1.0 21 km NNE of Arvin, CA
  10. 0.9 10 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
  11. 1.7 10 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
  12. 1.5 24 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
  13. 1.2 21 km N of Neenach, CA
  14. 0.8 11 km WNW of Mojave, CA
  15. 0.8 11 km SSW of Bodfish, CA

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

Revisions

USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.

What changedFromToWhen
review statusautomaticreviewed
location23 km NE of Arvin, CA22 km NE of Arvin, CA
longitude-118.63-118.63
latitude35.3335.33
depth4.464.83
location22 km NE of Arvin, CA23 km NE of Arvin, CA
longitude-118.63-118.63
latitude35.3335.33
depth4.644.46
magnitude1.731.36

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.